New Delhi, Oct 12: Kenyan long-distance runners Alex Matata and Lilian Kasait Rengeruk stamped their authority on the capital’s streets, storming to victory in the men’s and women’s elite races respectively at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon here on Sunday.
It was only the second time in the event’s history that Kenyan runners won both the men’s and women’s titles in the same edition. Francis Kibiwott and Lineth Chepkurui were the first ones to achieve the unique distinction in 2006.
Matata, who finished runner-up here last year, ran a perfectly-timed race to cross the line in 59:50 seconds, while Rengeruk triumphed in the women’s field with a time of 1:07:20 seconds braving the warm and humid conditions. Both winners pocketed $27,000 each for their efforts.
They were greeted at the finish line by event ambassador and legendary nine-time Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis.
Over 40,000 runners took to the streets of Delhi, participating across multiple categories including the Half Marathon, Open 10K, Champions with Disability Run, Senior Citizens’ Run, and the Great Delhi Run.
Abhishek, Seema top Indian elite category
Abhishek Pal and Seema were the fastest Indian finishers, clocking 1:04:17 and 1:11:23 seconds respectively as the country’s top middle-and long-distance athlete Gulveer Singh pulled out due to a back injury he sustained on Thursday.
The duel between Gulveer, the double Asian Championships gold medallist in 5000m and 10000m, and Pal was expected to be the highlight of the ‘Indian elite’ category but in the end it turned out to be a one-man show. Pal came close to breaking his personal best of 1:04:07, set in Delhi in 2023, but fell agonisingly short though he collected his third VDHM title since 2018.
Seema kept increasing the distance consistently between her and the competition to finish a comfortable first. Ujala took the second place in 1:15:41, narrowly ahead of Sanjivani Jadhav, who finished in 1:15:52. (PTI)
